Wheel.



W. BLACK.

WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED Nov. 5. 1910.

1,026,783. Patented May 21, 1912.

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#Gl-UMIIA PLANDOIAPN 00.. VIININGON. D. C.

W. BLACK.

WHEEL.

APPLIoATIoN FILED Nov. 5, 1910.

1,026,783. Patented May 21, 1912.

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WALTER BLACK, F MENDOTA, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentediuay 21, 1912.

Application filed November 5, 1910. Serial No. 590,841.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER BLACK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mendota, in the county of Lasalle and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in l/Vheels, of whichthe following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a wheel adapted to be used on varioussorts of vehicles, and relates more especially to the construction of awheel embodying a compressible section which absorbs all jolts and jarsincident to travel.

The objects of the present invention are, to construct a wheel whichwill be composed entirely of puncture-proof material, which will haveembodied in its structure a plurality of circumferentially extendingcushioning members and a plurality of circumferentially extendingslidable blocks; and to so arrange these cushioning members and blocksthat a cushioning of the entire lower half of the wheel will be broughtabout when an obstruction is met by the wheel. And a further object isto utilize these cushioning members as a means for returning the movableportions of the wheel to normal position.

Further objects of the invention are, to provide the wheel with an outercasing which will serve to protect the inner portions thereof frombecoming clogged by mud and dirt; to construct a wheel which will becheap and simple of manufacture, and which will not contain any greatmultiplicity of parts, or which will not have an involved structureliable to become disarranged and rendered vinoperative during usage; andto form the cushioning section of a plurality of parts so that in caseany one of them should become damaged or broken during usage it can beremoved and a new one substituted without discarding or rearranging anyof the other parts.

The invention further consists in the features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a sectional elevation showing the deviceo-f the present invention in normal position; Fig. 2, a section on line2,2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a view showing the parts in the position theyassume when the wheel passes over an obstruction; Fig. 4, a section online Ll--l of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5, a perspective view of one of theblocks.

The principle upon which the wheel of the present invention operatesbriefly is as follows: An inner section is provided, which is heldagainst other than rotary movement with respect to the axle of thewheel, and an outer section which is independently movable with respectto the axle ofthe wheel, said inner and outer sections'each being of arigid unyielding nature. Interposing the inner and outer sections is anintermediate section, which is comprised of a plurality of independentmembers. each of these members being slidably mounted in the innersection of the wheel and adapted and arranged to move inwardly andradially toward the axle of the wheel, and during such movementtraveling toward each other, thus forming in effect a disjointedflexible section. Interposed between each of these members is a sectionof resilient substance adapted to exert a spring tension in a directiontending to force the members toward the outer periphery of the rim andaway from one another.

The outer section above referred to extends around and engages theperipheries of these several movable members, and when the outer sectionhits an obstruction, the lower end of the outer section moves inwardlytoward the axial center of the wheel and moves said independent sectioninwardly therewith. Thus the outer section as a whole moves in thedirection in which the force of the strain incident to the striking ofthe obstruction is exerted. Only the intermediate members on the lowerportion of the wheel will move when the obstruction is hit. This isbecause of the fact that while the intermediate members can move freelyinwardly, they are held against movement outwardly, and thus cannotfollow the upper portion of the outer section which is moving away fromthe axial center of the wheel. The members at the lower portion of thewheel, when forced inwardly by the outer section, are moved into aposition so that their circumferences lie in a plane which is describedby an arc of reduced diameter from the are of the plane in which theupper members are lying; and when these members are forced into thisplane of reduced area, the loss of space incident thereto must beaccounted for. This is accomplished by the movement of the blocks towardone another, whereby the space between the blocks is decreased.

In being forced inwardly toward one another, the members are forcedagainst the tension of the resilient members interposed therebetween.Hence, such movement is against a spring tension and is therefore acushioning movement. This cushioning extends around the entire lowerportion of the wheel and acts to absorb all of the jolt and jar incidentto the striking of the obstruction before such olt or ar is communicatedto the axle of the wheel. When the obstruc tion has been passed, thesprings will tend to force the several members apart, and this willresult in their being forced toward the outer periphery of the wheel,thus placing them again in normal position and restoring the outersection to normal position.

The device comprises an inner section 6, which consists of a hub 7,having spokes 8 radiating therefrom, which are connected to an outer rim9. Attached to this rim 9 are companion circular plates 10. Each of theplates 10 is in the form of a flat ring and the outer edge of each ofthe plates is inturned as indicated at 11 in Figs.2 and 4, to provide acircumferentially extending flange 12. The plates 10, as shown, projectbeyond the rim 9 and form a chamber 13 which extends concentricallyaround said rim; and the flanges 12 coperate to provide a slot 14 of areduced width from the width of the chamber', and in fact constitutes areduced outer end of the chamber. It is, of course, obvious that othermeans might be employed for securing the plates 10 in place; in fact,the construction and arrangement of these plates can be variedmaterially without departing from the spirit of the present invention.Thus, the hub 7, the spokes S, the rim 9, and the plates 10 constitutethe inner section of the wheel, and all these parts are held againstmovement with respect to the axial center of the wheel and form a rigidintegral section. The intermediate section 15 of the wheel is composedof a plurality of blocks 16, shown in detail in Fig. 5. Each of theseblocks has a portion of its body reduced to provide shoulders 17extending along either side of the block, and each block is recessed atits end to provide a chamber 18, preferably, as shown, in the form tocontain a coil spring 19.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 4, the enlarged portion 20 of thebody of the blocks lies within the chamber 13, and the reduced portion21 extends through the slot 14 and lies outside of the outer edge of theplates 10. The lianges 12 engage the shoulders 17 and serve to limit theoutward movement of the blocks 16, but inward movement of the blocks ispermitted by reason of the .enlarged portion 20 of the blocks being of aless depth than the depth of the chamber 13, it being understood thatthe blocks have a sliding lit between the plates of thechamber 13.Extending around the blocks 16 is a rim 22, which, when the parts are innormal position, contacts the surface of each of the blocks; and thisrim 22 forms a portion of an outer casing 23. The casing 23, as shown,is formed of two sections 24 and 25, the section 25 being in the form ofa disk, and the section 24 being in the form of a shell-like housing.Fastening means 26 are provided for securing the two sections together,whereby a complete housing is produced around the wheel.

It is understood that the precise construction of the housing and thearrangement of the parts of the housing shown are not a limitation uponthe invention, as this portion of the device may be changed withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. The housing may, if desired,be provided with a tread 27, which may be of rubber or any othersuitable substance, to enable the wheel to attain the necessary grippingaction upon the road-bed. The housing servesk the function of preventingmud and dirt from accumulating between the blocks and thus interferingwith their movement, and it further serves the function of preventingdisplacement of the blocks during the operation of the wheel. It alsoserves the function of distributing onto a plurality of blocks thestrain incident to the striking of an obstruction, so that said strainis communicated to a plurality of the blocks and is not sustained by anyone single block.

The operation of the device briefly is as follows: Then the parts are innormal position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, all of the blocks 16 will beat their farthest position from the axial center of the wheel; theshoulders 17 of all of the blocks will be resting againstthe flanges 12;the blocks 16 will all be separated a like distance from one another;the springs 19 will all be compressed a like degree, and all portions ofthe outer rim will be lying an approximate equidistance from the axialcenter of the wheel. Although in Fig. 1 all of the blocks and all partsof the rim are shown as lying an equal dist-ance from the center of thewheel, it will be understood that the weight of the body of the vehiclewill tend to comf press these somewhat, even when the vehicle is passingover level ground. When` an obstruction is hit, the parts will assumet-he positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The outer rim will have its lowerend forced in toward the axial center and its Lipper end forced out fromthe axial center; that is, the entire outer casing as a whole will movein the direction in which the force of the strain incident to thestriking of the obstruct-ion is traveling. The movement of the lowerportion of the outer casing being inward, such movement will carry withit the blocks V16 lying below the axial center of t-he wheel,

the blocks at the upper portion of the 'wheel being unaffected by thismovement because of the fact that the outer section is moving away fromthese blocks; and they are unable to follow in its movement because ofthe shoulders 17 engaging the [langes 12 and limiting the outwardmovement of the blocks. All of the blocks which lie below the horizontalaxial center of the wheel will be moved inwardly, since the portion ofthe outer section lying below the axial center of the wheel will movetoward the axial center'- of the wheel and the portion of the outersection above said axial center will move away from the axial center.The forcing inwardly of the blocks below the axial center will reducethe circumference of the circle described by the outer edges of theblocks; that is to say, with the blocks as shown in Fig. 1, the innerand outer faces of said blocks are lying in a plane which is describedby circles concentric to t-he rim of t-he innersection. But when thelower blocks are moved inwardly, their upper and lower faces will belying in a plane which is described by a circle eccentric to the rim ofthe inner section. Thus, when the blocks are in the position shown inFig. 3, their peripheries will be lying in a plane described by anellipse and not by a true circle. This decreasing of the circumferenceof the circle, which describes the plane in which are lying the upperand lower edges of those blocks below the axial center of the wheel,necessarily forces these blocks into a smaller space, and in doing this,the blocks are crowded toward one another, thus accommodating themselvesto the smaller space. The forcing in of the blocks toward one anotherwill compress the springs 19 interposed between the blocks, and thusthis movement of the blocks toward one another will be resisted by theaction of the springs, and hence a cushioning effect will be produced bythis movement. It is in this cushioning that the shock and jar incidentto the striking of the obstructions are absorbed, the action in allrespects being similar to the absorption of the shock by the compressedair in a pneumatic tire, the springs 19 in the present instance takingthe place of the air.

As shown in Fig. 3, when the outer rim is moved by the contacting of anobst-ruction, all of the blocks lying below the axial center of thewheel are moved inwardly toward the center of the wheel and crowdedtoward one another, the amount of the inward movement decreasing fromthe point of Contact of the obstruction and the rim toward thehorizontal axial center of the wheel. This cushioning resistance isimparted to all of the blocks lying below the axial center of the wheel,and the entire strain of the jolt is not centered upon any singlecushioning member, but is communicated to a plu yality of these membersand distributed over a substantially wide area, whereby a more etlicientand greater cushioning action is produced, and whereby no single blockis liable to become broken by reason of an excessive strain placedthereon. After the obstruction has been passed over, the outer rim willbe relieved from the pressure exerted thereon and the pressure of thesprings 19 will tend to force apart the blocks lying below the axialcenter of the wheel. This forcing apart of these blocks will naturallytend to slide them away from the axial center of the wheel, since inforcing them apart, a greater space is produced between them, and thusadditional space must be provided. lVhen the blocks below the axialcenter of the wheel slide outwardly, their peripheries then lie in aplane described by a circle of .increased circumference, or acircumference equal to the circumference of the circle describing theplane in which the upper blocks are lying; and thus, of course,additional space is provided for the lower blocks to rest in andmovement of the blocks apart from one another is permitted. The outwardmovement of the blocks forces the rim in a reverse direction from whichit was forced by the blow incident to the striking-of the obstruction,and hence the rim is again placed in the normal position shown inFig. 1. Thus an action is produced in which, when an obstruction isencountered and a blow is imparted t-o the rim of the wheel, the forceof the blow is absorbed in a plurality of cushioning members before itistransmitted to the axle. And by arranging these cushioning memberscircumferentially of the wheel, a continuous cushioning action isexerted around the entire lower part of the wheel; and they are soarranged that when the force of the blow has passed by, they will exerta pressure tending to force the rim and the other movable parts backinto normal position.

Since all of the blocks are separable and independent, it will bereadily seen that should any of them become broken or mutilated, thesame can be removed and another substituted without disarranging any ofthe other portions of the wheel.

I claim:

1. In a wheel, the combination of an inner section, including a hub, arim, and connections therebetween, all fixed against diametricalmovement with respect to the axle of the wheel, an outer section in theform of a tread member movable diametrically withv respect to said axle,a section intermediate the outer and inner sections, composed of aseries of unattached members adapted to move toward one another andtoward the axle of the wheel, shocknina absorbing mechanism, consistingof a series of springs, one spring being interposed between each of saidmembers, said sp-rings extending cireumferentially of the axle of theWheel and exerting a force tending to space the members apart and holdthem outwardly from the axle of the Wheel, substantially as' described.

2. In a Wheel, the combination of an inner section, including a hub, aninwardly flanged channeled rim, and connections therebetween, all ofwhich are xed against diamctrical movement with respect to the axle ofthe Wheel, an outer section in the form of a tread movable diametricallywith respect to the axle of the Wheel, a series of blocks adapted torest in said channeled rim and provided With shoulders adapted to engagethe iianges of said rim, and shockabsorbing mechanism, consisting of aseries of springs, said springs extending circumferentially of the axleof the Wheel, one spring being interposed between each of said blocks,the inner faces of the tread member and flanges providing a series offaces against which the blocks rest and upon Which they slide,substantially as de scribed.

WALTER BLACK. Vitnesses R. D. HART, E. A. WALKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

